Saturday 7th of May 2011
Travelling
I had wanted to head off at 4am. It was wishful thinking, I should have known. At 8.30am I finally steered my loyal car onto the Brussels ring, heading south. Traffic was busy of course, it was after all Saturday morning. For Belgians it was also a long weekend with Monday off from work. And, on top of it all, the weather forecast was excellent.
Compared to trips in the past, I had this time been sooo calm; only a slight panic attack yesterday coming back from work, realising how much I still had to do for everything to be "perfect". I did not go to bed until shortly after midnight, several hours past my normal bedtime, and I got up at 6am. Not having been able to sleep properly the night before that due to travel nerves, resulted in a quite tired Minna climbing in behind the steering wheel.
Around 11.30am I finally started waking up, after a service station capuccino (and an accompanying lactosis intolerance pill). It turned out I needed it dearly; due to my delayed start I hit the Paris ring .. at what seemed like lunchtime peak hour (they apparantly have them even on Saturdays). Bouchon. I tried to cheer us all up by singing loudly (with car windows up) to an old CD of Melissa Etheridge.
Getting closer to my stop-over destination I was pretty tired from all the singing. Reaching the intended highway exit I realised to my horror I had another two hours of driving (and singing?). Luckily, traffic turned out to be very quiet on the winding country roads that followed. I arrived at my hotel with no fatalities.
Day 2
Sunday 8th of May 2011
Trail number 6 of Montagrier and trail number 11 of Ribérac
I allowed myself a late start, to catch up on some sleep. Around 10am me and my car were in Montagrier, heading out for its trail number 6.
I was mesmerized. I cannot recall having ever ridden any trail with this high amount of singletrack; rocky, bumpy and winding on top of that. Pure pleasure! The rear suspension of my bike had a good workout.
Signage was excellent. Although never advisable, this trail is rideable without a map.
Photos do not do this trail justice! Elevation profile and trail setup can be found on my Dordogne page: In total I had 38.3 kilometres, 814 height metres, and a hill factor of 21.3.
I was too high on endorphines to settle down for the day. I rode into central Ribérac, to try out its short green trail number 11.
How sad! Highly insufficient signage already from the start; severely deteriorated and obviously not renewed in a long time, it took me some circling around to get out of the village. Shortly thereafter, I could find no signs whatsoever. I miraculously re-united with trails number 8 and 9 in the west (returning from their extra loops in the south), gambled a bit, was rewarded by another sign .. which lead into a dead end. I backtracked and re-rode. Same result. I gave up, and I trailed the remaining distance back into Ribérac on busy tarmac roads.
I am not doing any more trails of Ribérac, EVER, that's for sure!
Back at the hotel, I showered, relaxed and packed up to get ready for an early start the next day: Driving the remaining distance into Spain, to try out trails in the Basque Country.
Day 3
Monday 9th of May 2011
Final destination: Spain
The sad result of Ribérac trails seemed not to have fazed me much. It was grim that I could not stay longer to explore more of the Montagrier trails, but I promised myself to try come back soon, and to cherish the memory of its trail number 6 until then. Melissa Etheridge entered the scene again. I had another service station capuccino: Vanilla flavour this time.
Switching to another highway at the level of Bordeaux you had to negotiate some traffic lights. Car window washers attacked my car, despite my intensive waving and grimacing. Maybe they did not SEE my waving and grimacing? The windscreen REALLY needed a wash, but I was darned if I was going to accept them doing it anyway, with that attitude! GRR!! What can you do? Assertiveness is (maybe) not my strongest suit, so I opened my car window and asked how much. "5 euro" And I surprised myself: I negotiated! Shock did not leave me until minutes later when back zooming down the highway. And it WAS much nicer to drive now, now that I was able to see the traffic better.
The sunshine got stronger and stronger for each kilometre I continued south. I stopped at yet another service station, and I applied sun block in the ladies' restroom.
Crossing the border was uneventful. But then .. how GREEN it was! Even when going through tunnels, huge trees were growing on top! Then, zooming in between blocks of flats; did they tear a couple of them down, to fit the highway in?
Getting off the highway for the last bit of distance to my accommodation south of Bilbao, the maps for my car gps were obviously not up to date; I was instructed I was very much off-road, and that I should make a u-turn at my speediest convenience. Iha haha Speed limitation signs were confusing and not at all corresponding to the ones indicated by my car gps. Hmmm ... In the middle of Gorbea Natural Park, on winding, confusing country lanes, I eventually stopped and asked for directions. It turned out my accommodation was just around the bend. I had passed it twice already.
Day 4
Tuesday 10th May 2011
Dog bites
Well, today was not the most perfect day. To put it mildly.
On recommendation of a local friend, I drove an hour south of my accommodation. In village of Maeztu I hooked up with trail number 7 of the Izki Montańa Alavesa Mountain Bike Centre.
It all started with gravel road. We reached the first village. Village of Apellániz.
A village that quickly introduced me to some northern Spanish culture.
Dogs are not pets in this country. They are often highly territorial creatures, many times never allowed inside the homes of their owners, kept only as a cheap home alarm.
And they bite.
It happened all so fast. Being a fierce dog lover I could not grasp at first that I had been bitten. “You just bit me?” I blurted out in astonishment. My tone carried neither anger nor fear. Just sheer astonishment. I had been standing completely still, with my body half-way turned away.
A village lady I only seconds earlier had interchanged an "hola" with (somewhat frosty on her side I recalled afterwards) had seen the dog bite me. Now she walked straight past me without a word, ignoring me completely. Oh la la ... friendly village, this is! Manure all over the road; slippery to ride on and not my favourite to walk in, especially with biking shoes (slippery by character, as you may know).
You won't see me buying any property here. I assume the inhabitants are just as happy!
The skin on my shin was broken, and there were trickles of blood. After cleaning it with an antiseptic I struggled with myself as to whether to abort my ride and visit the police station. Getting the dog anesthetized would not help my possibly having contracted rabies, or an infection. At that moment, although rattled and uneasy, also about the apparant lack of sympathy from the villager(s), I felt pretty ok. So why abort? If I was going to die (although, maybe not immediately), I might just as well enjoy the ride there, no? Literally.
And so I continued. My uneasiness increased by the fact that my gsm found no network. But I continued.
Steep climbing, first on tarmac, then on gravel road. We entered Izki Natural Park. And continued on gravel road. At the top we started on a downhill gravel road. Oh oh ... would this be a day I aborted due to being too bored? How sad to come this far for that! But then, a 45-degree off-road bit on the left, and we were off!
There are some fantastic singletrack bits on trail number 7! It continued also after trail number 8 joined up from the east. Still rattled from the dog incident, when we reached barbed wire gates with signs saying "Please close the gate after you" I was somewhat anxiously wondering what the fence was keeping in ... or was it out? I zoomed up and down singletrack, interspersed with the occasional MUDBATH section. The further we got, it turned into MUDBATH sections interspersed with dry singletrack.
When trail number 8 split off to head back east, I broke off, too. Stopping for photos and overall enjoying of scenery had taken its toll on time, and I realised that the intended full trail number 7 might be a tad too much daylight-wise.
Double dirt track, looping down down down until T-crossing with a view. A right-hand turn onto sandy dirt track, then looong gravel climbing, then loooong singletrack climbing, ending on busy tarmac road. Touching the very outskirts of village of San Roman de Campezo, we re-united with trail number 7 (arriving from the west), but we equally overlapped with trails number 6, 14 and 15. Gravel section. Tarmac section. Then a 45-degree left-hand turn into the bush; it was like entering the rain forest at the zoo, the greenhouse humidity all but took my breath away.
Just as steep as we went down, just as steeply did we have to climb. But then followed a plateau of some very nice singletrack. At an off-road T-crossing with a view, I finally had enough network to be able to make a couple of reassuring phone calls.
Turning left I was welcomed back into the lushy bush by a steeeeep, loong, technical climb. I walked briskly to get away from swarming and persistent gnats. Speeding down the next hill, not as nice as the previous one but still decent, cleared out the air holes in my helmet.
Down at the bottom it was time for a major trail split-up. Trails 6, 14 and 15 were going left, along with trail number 5 arriving from the right. I chose to keep going with trails number 7 and 8, both going right, overlapping with trail number 5 in the opposite direction. For trail number 8 this is a double-back section. Not to worry, there is space enough to take on meeting traffic, if any: A loooong, wide gravel road section and afterwards a busy tarmac crossing, and tarmac into village of Bujanda. Out of sheer apprehension I walked at first; any dogs around? Were they interested in making full-nose contact with less friendly bits of me? Just a block further, before the church, there was no sign but I deducted from my map that I was to go left, and I left the village just as quickly as I had entered it. A loooong tarmac section took us down down down .. I winced internally for each height meter that was lost for nothing. I increased speed to flame it away. And almost missed a left-hand turn onto, surprise, more gravel road.
Gravel continued until around Antońana. Signs were highly unclear. A flyover has been built since the gps file provided by www.btteuskadi.net was created. I stopped to renew the sun block on my face. As I got up in the saddle again, my front tyre had developed a fully-fledged flat. I found the thorn, deeply embedded. I was grateful not to have had this amongst the swarming gnats, and I welcomed a break in what had turned into a very boring end to the ride. A local sign indicated 5 kilometres left to village of Arturi. My starting point, Maeztu, lies some 2 kilometers beyond that.
I suffered the rest of the way back to my car; severely bored. Wide gravel road and tarmac all the remaining distance. Unexpected and panicky bunny-hopping of a medium-sized snake sunbathing in the middle of the gravel road got my pulse into high gear for a couple of minutes and placed a grin on my face, but that was about it.
Would I ever ride this again? Probably not. If, nevertheless, for some inexplicable, unfortunate reason, I would find myself out here again, I would most definitely avoid the bit just before Bujanda and up to Antońana. I would trail explore (without much hope of better trails) trails number 5, 6, 14 and 15 going up to village of Korres, instead.
Signage is excellent out in the woods, but in the villages insufficient. I would not ride either trail number 7 or 8 without some kind of a map. The pdf's, maps and gps files provided by www.btteuskadi.net have not been updated according to the creation of new roads and bridges for safe crossing.
I got home, had a shower, cooked dinner, and crashed into bed a couple of hours later.
Day 5
Wednesday 11th May 2011
Interacting with the locals
Did you know that there is, to this day, no known cure for rabies? Once symptoms show, death is certain to occur within 1-2 weeks. Incubation time can be as long as 7 years.
Today was a dedicated rest day. I typed out my notes from the previous days, and called my doctor for advice on the dog bite. The bite itself, to avoid infection, should be treated with Iso-Betadine three times a day. If it starts watering and I start having fever, then I need antibiotics.
I dared the winding country lanes without activating my car gps (although, I admit, it was with me in my shoulder bag) and I visited village of Zeanuri for the pharmacy and some groceries. Stunning views when driving down into the valley. My landlord had told me Zeanuri is not big (about three blocks wide, it turned out), so I parked my car at the first available slot I could find, and I looked for the pharmacy on foot. An old man was sitting by the street, apparantly trying to figure out where the party was. I asked if he could tell me where the pharmacy was, and .. he pointed just across the street. There it was, la farmacia, with a very big sign above its entrance. ha ha
I walked in, and I immediately found what I needed. I double-checked with the pharmacist. Three-times-a-day Iso-Betadine. I walked out and SLIPPED on the freshly washed pavement, my right knee crashing into the ground at superspeed. What did they use, soap?? Else, hazard warning must be issued every time it rains! Maybe they saw me, a tourist, get out of my foreign-plated car, and they decided they'd let me know in a subtle way I was not welcome? ha ha What is it with this part of the country and me? First a dog bite, now this!
No worries, I got up. My knee was hurting a bit, but I was fine. I did not limp, I swear. I walked a block and realised I had reached the end of the village. I asked another person for where I could buy vegetables, and .. I ended up just behind the pharmacy. A tiny, inconspicuous building, yet inside there was a fantastic range of very fresh vegetables. Well, maybe not the peppers. I swear (again), they were ALIVE. My hand withdrew in a flash, and my body distanced itself, before I had time to consciously interpret IT. The shop assistant must have noticed. She kindly let me know she had some fresher ones still unpacked.
Courgette, peppers, egg plant, onions and eggs. Cooking day today!
Rain arrived while cooking.
In the evening, as rain continued, I programmed my plans for tomorrow. "If" not continuously raining tomorrow, "then" ..
Day 6
Thursday 12th May 2011
Trail number 5 (black) of Mendata
I was slow waking up despite several dead early sms messages. It was foggy outside. Where to go today, if at all? I googled for a weather update on the province of Biscay. No rain, cloudy, 15-20 degrees. We're off, girl! Quickly, before the computer changes its mind!
Trail number 5 (black) of village of Mendata starts out on the main tarmac road, and we stayed on it so long that I started doing small excursions into the bush just to see if there really wasn't anything off-road going in paralel. But no. It got worse: STEEP downhill tarmac. All the way down to village of Marmiz. NOT a good beginning.
After this we FINALLY went off-road, steep down, and just as quickly steep uphill with slippery rocks, with a stream next to it. I dare you to clear that one! And then up on tarmac, and a rather stupid triangular roundabout on tarmac. Trails 3 and 4 break off here for an extra loop in the north. Trail number 5 headed south: This is the same way that 3 and 4 later come back on. A village. I spotted what I first thought were locals hanging about by the main road to check out the traffic, whatever form that might be; homo sapiens or just the neighbour's cat. It turned out to be a group of elderly guys out hiking. Klik klik klik. I was being photographed. "Facebook", said the wrinkled camera owner, with a happy grin on his face. Ha ha
Back into the lush, crossing a very old bridge. Then followed a steepish off-road uphill, then a looong stretch of plateau riding, and then more up, of course; the loop had to earn it's 30 of a hill factor.
Another village later it was time for trails 3 and 4 to break off west, to return to Mendata. We, on the other hand, continued for an extra loop in the south. Sadly, we lost a lot of height meters on tarmac. A right-hand turn just before a bridge (leading to a busy main road) took us onto severely deteriorated tarmac. It slowly turned into gravel road. The road ended just next to a house, where you could choose to cross a stream through the water or over a bridge. A severely eroded dirt track followed, with a gate to open and close. Steep uphill. A wooden sign indicated 800 meters to village of Albiz. All vertical?
At the top, all that remained was tarmac back to Mendata - more than 2 kilometres!. There were great views from the road that I got to admire for the second time today; I had arrived by car on this very road.
Trail conclusion: Signage is excellent, although maybe a bit too scarce to my liking, and ambiguous in places. I would bring a map (as always). The gps file provided by www.btteuskadi.net is not fully corresponding to the trail in real life; I suspect they might have created it on the computer only, and never actually ridden the trail. Sad!
There is a lot of steep, long climbing and descending. For me, who prefers to stay up on my bike as much as possible, and since I am not a "steep, strong" rider, this trail would probably be more rideable for me in the opposite direction. The unrideable rocky uphill section next to the stream might still be over-technical but at least with an inkling of a possibility of being cleared. The big climb up to Albiz would be steep downhill, and possibly just about clearable for me.
Still, would I come back? Probably not. The downhill off-road sections (whichever direction) are too long and uneventful to my taste, and there are too many long sections on tarmac.
Day 7
Friday 13th May 2011
Guided tour
To be continued ..